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Cricket body size is altered by systemic RNAi against insulin signaling components and epidermal growth factor receptor
Author(s) -
Dabour Noha,
Bando Tetsuya,
Nakamura Taro,
Miyawaki Katsuyuki,
Mito Taro,
Ohuchi Hideyo,
Noji Sumihare
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
development, growth and differentiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1440-169X
pISSN - 0012-1592
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-169x.2011.01291.x
Subject(s) - biology , gryllus bimaculatus , rna interference , insulin receptor , gene knockdown , insulin receptor substrate , insulin like growth factor , p70 s6 kinase 1 , insulin , medicine , endocrinology , protein kinase b , microbiology and biotechnology , signal transduction , cricket , growth factor , receptor , genetics , rna , gene , insulin resistance , zoology
A long‐standing problem of developmental biology is how body size is determined. In Drosophila melanogaster , the insulin/insulin‐like growth factor (I/IGF) and target of rapamycin (TOR) signaling pathways play important roles in this process. However, the detailed mechanisms by which insect body growth is regulated are not known. Therefore, we have attempted to utilize systemic nymphal RNA interference (nyRNAi) to knockdown expression of insulin signaling components including Insulin receptor ( InR ), Insulin receptor substrate ( chico ), Phosphatase and tensin homologue ( Pten ), Target of rapamycin ( Tor ), RPS6‐p70‐protein kinase ( S6k ), Forkhead box O ( FoxO ) and Epidermal growth factor receptor ( Egfr ) and observed the effects on body size in the Gryllus bimaculatus cricket. We found that crickets treated with double‐stranded RNA (dsRNA) against Gryllus InR , chico , Tor , S6k and Egfr displayed smaller body sizes, while Gryllus FoxO nyRNAi‐ed crickets exhibited larger than normal body sizes. Furthermore, RNAi against Gryllus chico and Tor displayed slow growth and RNAi against Gryllus chico displayed longer lifespan than control crickets. Since no significant difference in ability of food uptake was observed between the Gryllus chico nyRNAi nymphs and controls, we conclude that the adult cricket body size can be altered by knockdown of expressions of Gryllus InR , chico , Tor , S6k , FoxO and Egfr by systemic RNAi. Our results suggest that the cricket is a promising model to study mechanisms underlying controls of body size and life span with RNAi methods.